Do Unto Others
by AnnaAza
Summary: <html><head></head>"Do unto others as they do unto you." What if the golden rule was broken? What if love and peace unravels one by one? What if the world slowly started to become a living hell? Sequel to "Acts of Kindness." DEAD.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Thank you, once again, for your reviews of "Acts of Kindness"! And if any of you readers are new, you could read "Acts of Kindness" (since this is a sequel), but it's not totally necessary. So, here's the first chapter of "Do Unto Others," and I hope you all enjoy and review this!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_. **

**DO UNTO OTHERS**

**CHAPTER 1: ENTERING**  
><strong>NORMAL POV<strong>

_"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"_

_Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears een though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure._

_"Of course this is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" _

(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, "King's Cross," by J.K. Rowling)

Katara found herself in a calm, green place that reminded her of a cross between the Spirit Oasis and the big tree in the swamp. The air was still; it felt odd—there was no wind, nothing flowed into her mouth or nostrils. This was very peculiar, she thought and held her breath in a moment of Sokka-ish curiosity. Nothing. No pressure, no soft breaths of air escaping her lips. Katara stopped, feeling rather unsettled. She then tripped over a rock and fell; this should have hurt. But she felt no physical pain. She didn't even sport a bruise or cut!

The Waterbender frowned in discomfort at the thought. What world was she in where she didn't need to breathe or couldn't feel pain?

Then she realized she was naked.

She immediately wished for clothes, and the white dress she wore at Ember Island appeared before her with bindings and undergarments. Katara was relieved to see that her engagement necklace was still around her neck. She had no wish for shoes, for the springy green grass did not make her feet itch; it was like walking on a thin feather pillow. As she adjusted her dress, she noticed a soft golden glow radiating off of her skin, as if she was a firefly that Zuko had once shown her at the Western Air Temple. The young woman stared and bent her arm to look at it from different angles. She suddenly remembered the pictures in Wang Shi Tong's library of deceased mortals-some were walking in something like resembled a large fire pit, and some were standing on a multitude of clouds with a similar golden glow.

The Water Tribe girl turned to bend the water from the pool to calm herself, but she...couldn't. Katara took a deep breath, focused, and tried again. There was no ripple, no drop of water out of place. What was happening to her! She frantically waved her arms, splashed her feet into the water, and even stomped into the pond and let her arms come up sharply through the water, water flying everywhere. She could not feel her qi, any water at all!

Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind her, sounding like hoarse, but restrained sniffles. She turned around and cried out.

Zuko!

He was wearing his clothes and armor and boots, while kneeling down over something, head buried in his hands. She rushed forward to comfort him, ask him what was wrong, tell him about this strange place. But as soon as she was close enough to touch him, she was thrown back by some invisible force.

She tried again and again, slamming against the barrier like a trapped, rabid tigerdillo. Giving up, finally, she saw the cause of his weeping.

It was a terrible thing to see Zuko lower his guard and cry, but even worse to see her bloody, still body on his arms. She screamed, raw pain and horror at the realization, and once again charged at Zuko.

"Zuko! Zuko! I'm here!" she called out desperately, punching at nothing and watching as the rock sphere shook slightly. She watched in complete disbelief and shock as he set his jaw tightly, took her necklace, and covered her with his shirt.

"No," she whispered softly, hardly daring to believe what had happened. She remembered the feeling of weightlessness and the sensation of seeing this bright light with her dead loved ones and some she did not know. "No! Zuko! Please, don't! I'm safe! I'm not..." _Dead_, her mind told her in a firm, but softened voice, as if trying to convince her that she was, but wanting to break it to her carefully.

She tried to touch him, reach him, speak to him, but she could not, and Zuko's image faded into the air like wisps of smoke.

Katara kneeled down and discovered spirits could indeed feel mental anguish and could weep, too. There was no one around to hear or see her, so she let all her emotions go: sobbing into her knees as she drew them up and hugged them, falling to the ground. The happiness at seeing the faces that she recognized as her tribe members from stories and paintings or real life, including her mom, had faded away when she realized she was alone in this place. Zuko's pained face tore at her heart, and she wished to see him. The feeling of longing to see him increased, until she found herself wishing he'd join her too.

_No. _She chastised herself. _I rather be here alone for all eternity than have any of my friends here after this battle, especially Zuko. _But her heart rebelled at this, and she forced herself to focus on the beauty of this place. But this world seemed like a painting-beautiful, but not real to her. As she absently moved her feet to rest in the pristine pond, she saw something like her face, but grown-up, on the surface. She touched her hand to her face, wondering if spirits could physically grow old, but when the reflection did not mimic her move, she turned around and gasped.

How could she not recognize her own mother's face? Had it really been too long?

Kya smiled at her. "Katara."

Katara sat there, rooted to the ground and felt as if she was hit full force by a shirshu's tongue. Slowly, as if warmth coated her veins, she slowly stood up, took small steps towards her, and ran forward to embrace her. Her mother's arms were around her, and Katara felt tears streak from her eyes in happiness. How long had she lain awake at night and sat by the fire, wishing to speak to her mother, to see her again? How many tears she had shed because of that fateful day? How long had Sokka, Dad, or Zuko held her in their arms to soothe her when she felt lonely and sad?

"Mom," she whispered. "I missed you."

Kya hugged her tighter. "I missed you, too." She pulled away, smiling. "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"

* * *

><p>They sat together and weaved the flowers into garlands as Katara talked about what happened. Granted, her mother had watched over her, Dad, and Sokka from the Spirit World, so she was bound to miss a few moments. And even if Kya recognized one of Katara's stories, she wanted to hear her side of it. Katara talked about her traveling adventures, the side stories, how she felt about Zuko's betrayal and how she came to feel about him now-<p>

"You really love Zuko, don't you, honey?" Kya asked, now starting on a flower necklace.

Katara looked down sadly. "Yeah." She started to pluck the petals off of one of her daisies and watched as they spun around in the air, swirling like mist.

Kya sighed and placed the wreath of flowers on Katara's head. "I know how you feel. When I died, I tried to reach Hakoda. It killed me to see him suffering. Do you remember when he used to take walks out in the tundra for hours?...Yes? Well, did you know that he would eventually stare at the sea and talk to me. I kept pounding on that barrier between the Sprit World and the physical realm to at least tell him that I was alright, that he needed to take care of you two. Eventually, I began to wish that he could visit me here. But I couldn't wish that after he left with all the men to fight the Fire Nation. Every time he rushed into a battle, I prayed and prayed that he would not join me here. Do not despair, Katara, the Spirit World is an odd thing. I talked to one of my great-grandmothers, and her husband joined her after twenty years. To her, it seemed like only a few days passed. And you can always watch over your loved ones."

Katara fingered the soft petals of her pansies. "But I can't see him. I can't see if he's okay. His image faded away before he could-"

"Yes, the spirits do that. Unless you're a ghost, you cannot enter the physical world."

"Can I become a ghost?" Katara put down her bundle of colorful flowers hopefully. _She could talk to her brother, Aang, Toph, Zuko..._

"No. Ghosts are people who have unfinished business with the living, and sprits can not wander as ghosts. Perhaps if you grow very old here, you could at least talk or speak to people. But the spirits are more strict now. They review your life and time here. If you have an inkling or a signal that you'll cause trouble or bend events to your will, they won't let you, since-" She stopped, as if she almost let something important slip.

"Since what, Mom?"

"It's forbidden to tell the ones who were involved or even bystanders. I'm sorry, sweetie, but if I tell you, I could be in big trouble."

"If I guess, and it's right, would that count?"

Kya laughed. "You're as stubborn and quick-witted as I was, Katara. But you wouldn't know if it's right if I don't tell you, right?"

Katara smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry. I just..." She looked down at her hands. "I always hated not being in control. I never knew until today what would happen at Sozin's Comet, if Aang would master the four elements in time, like that. But I hate not knowing anything. So many times I wished I could prevent an event from happening, and I knew I could make things better. But, like you said to me when I wished Dad hadn't been gored by that bull-whale, you can't change fate or destiny, but you can help turn it a bit after it's over. Something like that. Zuko thought his destiny was to hunt down the Avatar, but then he realized the right path. He tried to explain to me that he could choose his path, but his uncle said that destiny prevails. And I always wondered if humans could make their own destiny, or they were just puppets at the hands of fate."

"I like to think it's a little bit of both. We have alternate futures; they're based on the different choices we could or have made. If you want, you could look at your alternate life."

"I'm alive after Sozin's Comet?"

"Yes, I assume, but Zuko would have died if you hadn't saved him."

Katara thought for a minute. "I love Zuko. Even if it meant that I could live, the world needs him more than me. And I wouldn't be so selfish for him to die when I could save him."

Her mother smiled again and put her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Wise words, my daughter."

Katara watched one of the petals land in the pond and remembered her lost Waterbending.

"Mom, I can't Waterberbend anymore. I just...it was a big part of me. When Yon Rha told me of how you saved me because I was the last Waterbender, I vowed to be the best. I bent for you, to remember your sacrifice. And now-" Katara put her fingers in the pond and flicked the water off them at the tree.

"Mortals can't bend in the Spirit World. The spirits feel that everyone is balanced. But Avatars can bend their central element. If maybe, you put in an appeal, you could bend. You are the Avatar's Waterbending teachers, and I don't think you'll do bad things if you could bend, like take over the Spirit World."

Katara looked relieved, letting out a small laugh, the first since she came here. "That's great! I-"

Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared on the ground before them, forming into a small scroll with neat, curving words that read: _Summons for Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. _

"Summons?" Katara asked, baffled. "Why would I be summoned?" She opened the scroll carefully, and she read aloud:

_Dear Katara, _

_You have been summoned to the Palace in the Sky for a trial. Certain circumstances have caused this, and something unexpected came about. Please reply immediately once you've finished reading this._

_~Avatar Roku_

"You know what I love about spirits? They're so specific." Katara muttered sarcastically. "This is vague. A trial? What's it mean?"

Kya peered over to look at it. "I've never seen anything like this. I'm sure it can't be anything bad."

"How do you know?"

"You're a good girl, Katara, so you're not in trouble. It's unlikely because you recently came here. And if it was bad, it would have been written by all the court, not just Avatar Roku. You'll be fine, love." she replied reassuringly.

Katara read the words again. "How am I supposed to repl-oh." Katara's eyes widened as a brush appeared before her. She wrote below the signature: _Okay. _

Before she could write more, she was seized by an unseen force and spirited away (pun intended) from her mother's fading form.

**AN: Thank you for reading, and please review! Sorry if this is so short!**

**PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER:**

_"Zuko!" Katara cried, running up to him, forgetting dignity and ignoring the spirits' intense gazes. He swept her up in an embrace and smelled her hair. Curiously, she smelled like sunshine, if sunshine had a smell-warm and soothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. They kissed softy, and Katara felt so wonderful, so happy that he was here with her. He ran his hands over her head and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I missed you so much, Katara."_

_She pulled away suddenly, noticing his flickering golden glow. He looked slightly alarmed as she ran her fingers al over his face, his arms, his hands, his chest. _

_"No, no!" she whispered. "Zuko, you're not dead! You can't be!" _

_He drew her closer. "I'm with you now, love. I thought you'd be happy." _

_"No!" she shrieked, despite a wince from Zuko. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You were supposed to be Fire Lord and help rebuild with Aang!" She turned to Roku. "You brought back him once. Can't you do it again?"_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you for all your patience! Please review, and enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_. **

**CHAPTER TWO: TRIAL AND ERROR**

_"Oh Goddess, cup your hands about me! Tumult fills this world, and I am but a candle in the storm. —The Scroll of Karm, _The Shadowed Path Trilogy_:_ A Woman Worth Ten Coppers, Morgan Howell

Katara found herself in a large room, built like the court room in Ba Sing Se's palace. She was in the middle, at the bottom, while the judges and jury looked down at her from all sides in a circle. Katara remembered the feeling of no escape when she went down there, the feeling that everyone was watching and waiting to pounce on you in case you either slipped up or got nervous. The difference was that the chairs that held the audience were empty. Now, they were filled to the brim with spirits—some in human, animal, or some odd combination or none of the options listed. The spirits looked friendly, interested, hostile, bored, sleepy, surprised, and just staring at her like she was an interesting specimen, and they couldn't wait to see what she did.

There were two chairs, but without the restraints that wound around your wrists and arms if you were particularly uncooperative. They were made out of what seemed like glass, but looked more fragile. Katara did not think they were the interrogation chairs she had seen, nor did she see some sort of shield to protect the court or block her if she wished to attack them. Being spirits, most of them old and powerful, she figured that if she even made one hostile movement, she'd be reduced to a smoking pile of ash or something.

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe." She looked up at the fanciest seats that were close together and saw a great red dragon, a badgermole, a sky bison, and...Yue?

Yue smiled at her, but turned it quickly into a look of complete solemnity as the court quieted down.

"We spirits are gathered here to discuss an important matter that has been brought up." Yue declared, her voice ringing across the courtroom, though she did not seem to be shouting. "Tui is unable to be here today, since it is day in the Mortal World, so I will be taking over for him. The reason why one of the leaders of Water Representation is in charge because one of our own is involved. The other one conducting this trial is Agni, the Great Dragon himself!"

The spirits nodded and whispered amongst themselves, but quieted once Agni, the red dragon, spoke. "Indeed. Now, we will discuss something that involves the prophecy and fate, which will be a difficult trial, it seems. But first, I'd like for the young man to be brought in. We wish to try them together."

The doors behind Katara opened, and Katara turned to see a man with pale skin, shaggy dark hair, gold eyes, and a burn scar on one side of his face wearing his usual clothes and armor. He looked discomfited to be in the presence of many spirits, but as his eyes rested on her, he looked happier and shocked. Katara recognized him at once.

"Zuko!" Katara cried, running up to him, forgetting dignity and ignoring the spirits' intense gazes. He swept her up in an embrace and smelled her hair. Curiously, she smelled like sunshine, if sunshine had a smell—warm and soothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. They kissed softy, and Katara felt so wonderful, so happy that he was here with her. He ran his hands over her head and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I missed you so much, Katara."

She pulled away suddenly, noticing his flickering golden glow. He looked slightly alarmed at her face as she ran her fingers al over his face, his arms, his hands, his chest.

"No, no!" she whispered. "Zuko, you're not dead! You can't be!"

He drew her closer. "I'm with you now, love. I thought you'd be happy."

"No!" she shrieked, despite a wince from Zuko. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You were supposed to be Fire Lord and help rebuild with Aang!" She turned to Roku, whom she spotted near the front to the right of them. "You brought back him once. Can't you do it again?"

"Ah, indeed!" A woman with long, smooth black hair that fell to her waist with pale skin that seemed to be marred and wore a feathered mask that covered all but her lips declared. Her body kept changing into different degrees of horrors or moods—her face retained the dour, sour look. One of her hands was holding a small white orb. The court turned to look at her.

"Yes, Zhen Ji?" Yue politely intoned.

"Forgive me for my outburst, Lady Yue, but I'm sure we are all aware of Prince Zuko's return from the dead. Are you aware that he took this pair to their pasts and strongly hinted that they should forgive each other? Roku is meddling into Fate!"

Agni nodded solemnly. "Is this true, Avatar Roku?"

Roku replied, "Yes. It was necessary."

"Hm..." His eyes turned towards Zuko, who looked stunned at his Nation's deity locking eyes with his.

"Agni..." Zuko immediately dropped to a reverent kowtow, bowing his head and not daring to look at the god in the face. Katara, watching Zuko, did the same. Her white dress brushed on the floor, and her eternal glow radiated in the presence of the Dragon Creator of the Fire Nation.

One of the spirits, who wore that feathered mask and had pursed lips, frowned. "Roku, you should have not brought them here. Look at this!" She gestured towards the pair still bowing on the floor. "The woman is dead, and the man will be very soon! Why spare them?"

"Zuko's almost dead?" Katara interrupted. "But—" She noticed Zuko's light was flickering on and off, his form fading briefly.

"Yes." The badgermole explained. "He is teetering beyond the edge; someone here is trying to bring him back...Roku."

The court turned, as if watching a Kuai Ball match, towards Roku, who calmly said, "Well, I assume these two will be going back, so I'm trying to signal to the Avatar that he shouldn't bury, cremate, or float them into sea just yet."

"Going back?" A serpent hissed. "What nonsense is this?"

Agni bade the two to rise, and nodded to Roku, who looked at Zuko and Katara one at a time. "These two...do you not guess their ancestry? Don't they look familiar?"

The spirits cocked their heads, hmmed, stared appraisingly at hrm, murmured, and suddenly, some started to nod slowly.

"Prince Zuko is descended from Roku, as you might know, and also from a Sun Warrior. And of course, me, being the prince of the royal Fire Nation family. But Princess Katara—" Agni seemed to size her up, but someone called out, "She is one of my relatives!"

They all turned (Katara wondered if their necks got sore) to the speaker, a man with Water Tribe furs, clothes, and ceremonial beads and a white fur headdress. Some gaped openly.

"I am Avatar Kuruk," the man announced. "I believe I've seen that face before. Your grandmother, my dear, is Kanna of the North, correct? Well, we are not directly related, but we're distant cousins or somewhat. I was never good with family trees."

Katara's eyes widened. She was related...to an Avatar?

"Is all of the Gaang related to Avatars?" she asked, still stunned.

Kuruk laughed. "No. But if you look into their past lives, then...you kids do a lot of crazy, powerful stuff."

Katara imagined her family like royalty, powerful warriors...but stopped. There was no need for her to get so self-important, even though she was distantly related to Kuruk. Zuko looked unsurprised and rubbed her arm. "It takes a while for it to sink in," he explained.

"So, what of their ancestry?" A young child asked, her eyes glittering like mica. "What's that have to do with anything?"

"Why, it means that Roku and Kuruk are going to try to revive their family members and break the balance!" A huffy man replied, who, Katara noticed, had a mustache that would make any walrus and Haru jealous.

"We need them for -" The sky bison stopped himself, but the other spirits seemed to know what he meant.

"Yes," Katara heard one whisper. "It might just be them."

"Very well." Agni announced. "The mortals will return to their world." The spirits hissed, booed, protested, shouted, cheered, honked, roared, screamed, clamored in a symphony of noises, both joyous and angry, until Agni breathed a large fire ball that shot up to the feeling, bursting and scattering all around.

"If...they could pass the test of trials."

There were nods of approval and shrugging, but Roku looked incensed, Kuruk startled, and Yue fearful.

"No. You know how difficult and mind-breaking those tests are! Only two have passed it!" Katara heard someone shout, but she didn't see who called out, only the worried look on Zuko's face.

"Zuko?" she whispered, touching his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"I know about the trials," he murmured as the spirits argued. "I read about them in the library once, and they gave me nightmares for weeks. Katara, I was thirteen when I read about them, and they still haunt me today. How well...can you tolerate pain and the past and -"

She pressed her lips to his. "Zuko, you're a strong, new man. The past is the past, and it can never hurt you again. You can tolerate pain, because you just grimace from wounds others wince and groan about. I know you can pass any test if it was asked of you. You never give up and never back down." She linked his hand in hers. "We will do it together."

**NEXT TIME ON DO UNTO OTHERS...**

_"Take this," Roku told Katara, holding out a long, white object that glowed silver and came to a point. "This will help you greatly."_

_"What is this?" She asked, turning it in her hand. "Why aren't you giving this to Zuko?" _

_"Zuko can defend himself with his broadswords, and you need a weapon. Besides, this will help you get through the trials. If you fear you cannot pass one, slash this in the air. It will provide a portal for you to go on."_

_"Isn't this cheating?" Katara asked._

_"It can be only used once by each person." Roku said, ignoring her question._

_"Is it?" She snapped. "I do not wish to anger the spirits." _

_"They need you more than you know, so they will not kill you. Some may even aid you in your quest." _

_"But we don't know what our quest is! Do the spirits expect us to dive blindly into those eight tasks they spoke of?"_

_Roku paused and sighed briefly. "Yes."_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for waiting! School is over, so you will have more updates and a few new oneshots! Please review! **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Avatar: the Last Airbender_. **

**CHAPTER THREE: OPENING THE GATE**

_"Here's some advice. Stay alive." -_Haymitch Abernathy, The Hunger Games_, _Suzanne Collins.

The spirits had given Katara and Zuko a few minutes to prepare, chatting worriedly or excitedly about this new turn of events. Zuko was holding Katara's hand, as if they were going to step into the doctor's office to see if the results of the test were bad. Katara leaned her head on Zuko's shoulder, with Zuko's knees bent down slightly.

"So short." He whispered fondly, kissing her hair. She responded with a coo in her throat, and he gripped her by the waist. Agni, he was glad being a spirit didn't rob him of sensation! Nothing described the feeling and pleasure of flesh against flesh. When he was younger, he remembered seeing a husband and wife kiss at a wedding ceremony and sticking out his tongue with a disgusted, "Blech!"

His uncle had laughed at him. "It's not as gross as you make it out to be. Quite the opposite." He winked at Aunt Kui, who pressed her fingers to her lips lightly like a proper young lady with a touch of mischief. Zuko didn't get it, though. What was so great about kissing? It was just touching lips and tongues, as Uncle had told him. That was so gross! You used tongues for eating and talking! He imagined someone's tongue in his mouth, and it was like imagining a rotten banana. Disgusting! Did they like slobbering all over each other's faces? Grown-ups were crazy, he decided.

"I'm never going to kiss a girl! I'll sign my name on a contract in my own blood if I have to prove it!" He declared, and the grown-ups around him roared with laughter. His mother had choked on her wine, while even Father had a quirk in his thin lips. Azula, yanking her nurse's hair while she was on her lap, giggled, even though she didn't know what it was all about.

He remembered that Lu Ten had drew up an official contract from the copies of legal documents and wrote Zuko's decree on it, chuckling as Zuko clumsily wrote his name down in ink.

"You'll break that contract in a few years, Cousin!"

Later, he had felt this...stirring. He wanted to...touch a girl, and suddenly, kissing jumped out at him - at the parties, in the court garden, younger couples in dark corners, his uncle and aunt, Lu Ten with his new girlfriend. Now Mai, with her blushing cheeks and shy head ducks, made him puff up with pride and...this tingly feeling, hot and cold at once. His first kiss under an apple tree in the orchard garden was an awkward one, but strangely addictive like tasting a cool drink of juice to chapped lips and dry throats.

What made kissing so pleasurable, so intimate? He wondered, as Katara pecked his cheek. The Prince rumbled her hair and almost jumped when Agni's voice announced that the portal was ready.

"Choose your weapons." He commanded.

"If it is possible, may I have my broadswords and knife?" Zuko asked, bowing his head and folding his hands respectfully.

"Only one weapon each is allowed. Pick one."

"My swords, then." The swords appeared on the floor in front of his feet, and as he picked up their handles, he reveled in the familiar motions and tested them. His hands felt comfortable and right on his handles.

"And you, Katara?" Agni inquired.

Katara bit her lip. "Can I have my Waterbending back?"

"This trial is in the Spirit World, so no. Do you have another weapon that you know how to use skillfully?"

Katara chewed on her lip, trying to ignore the whispering spirits, the scornful tones. Sokka had taught her to throw a spear and use his boomerang, but she wasn't particularly talented at hitting the target with a long, awkward spear. She could use a boomerang, but that was Sokka's specialty, not hers. Zuko had tried to teach her swordsmanship, but his swords were too heavy, and she kept smashing the blades together. What weapon could she use?

A knife. At home, she could skin their food with the whalebone knife as fast as Gran Gran, sometimes even faster. When they traveled and she had to hunt, she could down a fleeing animal enough to stop it from running. While she necessarily sometimes didn't kill it...well, she hindered them from running, right? Zuko had taught her some fighting moves with his knife before they went into villages to purchase supplies, and she was decent enough to strike the tree target (though not always in the center), swing it lightly, and knew some techniques.

While she was thinking, Roku pulled her aside to a corridor, while the spirits talked. Zuko looked at them, starting to follow, but Roku held up a hand in a stop command. The prince nodded and continued to practice his swords.

"Take this," Roku told Katara, holding out a long, white object that glowed silver and came to a point. "This will help you greatly."

"What is this?" She asked, turning it in her hand. "Why aren't you giving this to Zuko?"

"Zuko can defend himself with his broadswords, and you need a weapon. Besides, this will help you get through the trials. If you fear you cannot pass one, slash this in the air. It will provide a portal for you to go on."

"Isn't this cheating?" Katara asked.

"It can be only used once by each person." Roku said, ignoring her question.

"Is it?" She snapped. "I do not wish to anger the spirits."

"They need you more than you know, so they will not kill you. Some may even aid you in your quest."

"But we don't know what our quest is! Do the spirits expect us to dive blindly into those eight tasks they spoke of a few minutes ago?"

Roku paused and sighed briefly. "Yes."

Katara could only stand there, worried and shocked. She thought of something, something that she had almost forgotten...

"My baby," Roku looked at her, startled. "My baby...where is—"

"Katara, he's gone." Roku said solemnly. "He was so...young and —"

"Gone?" Katara felt something hit her in her chest, an invisible and hard blow. Gone, gone, it was her fault. A boy! A baby boy, like she imagined, when she lay or sat down, touching her stomach. She imagined a boy that looked like a miniature Zuko, one that Zuko could protect and devote himself fiercely to...

She buried her face in her hands, the weapon clattering to the floor. No, no, no...it was her fault! She was so stupid, so stubborn...

As sobs ransacked her heart, Katara felt a warm hand press her shoulder. "Katara, he was reborn."

"Reborn?" An ache of sadness remained, that she and Zuko would never know their child, but happy...that he would live, that he was not stuck in limbo in the Spirit World like she feared.

She fingered her weapon again, wondering what would happen to them if they didn't survive.

"First task is...the Gate of Opening: Strength." Agni announced. He suddenly shot forward a paw and sliced the air directly in front of Zuko and Katara. They jumped away, but both of them saw through the jagged piece a lonely place. It was not black, nor white. It seemed to swirl like the mist in Katara's resting place in the Spirit World.

"Step in." The dragon ordered, and the two benders gripped their hands and walked into the mist.

"Whatever happens," Zuko told her firmly. "I will not separate from you. We are going to do this together, unless the task requires us not to." He held out his wrist, and she saw that her necklace was wound around it like a token from her heart. She smiled, touching her engagement necklace, the cool jewels that Zuko lovingly carved. "Yes," she replied. "Together."

Suddenly, her hand dropped as if it were weighted down, and Zuko's arm jerked down sharply. Katara felt her knees buckling, as Zuko looked at her in worry. "Katara!"

"I-I can't move!" She cried out, struggling to get up, but fell down. Her arms felt too weak to help pull her up, and her body seemed to be anchored to the ground. The settings around them were full of trees—a forest?

Zuko, too, fell to the ground. "How-are-we...supposed to move?"

This question went answered as a huge monster charged into the forest, knocking aside trees as if they were toothpicks and snapping them behind him. Large dents appeared in the ground, the footprints the size of a bed. It _was_ a him, Katara noticed, and she gulped as the face loomed over them. It was a hideous, gigantic, and muscular creature with long sharp claws, wild and tangled black hair, two long horns like pearl knives, seven eyes and fifteen toes and fingers, bright red scaly skin, and it was wearing a loincloth with a skin she could not recognize. She was startled to see Zuko pale in horror, and he rolled to cover her with his own body. With a yell, Zuko shoved one of his broadswords into its ankle, and the monster roared in pain as it stumbled away. A sickening _snap _came from the west, and the monster ran at them again, wielding a club from a broken tree.

"_Oni_." Zuko hissed. "It's in our legends, and I do not want you to even get five feet close to it. There are many terrible folk tales about it, and none of them have happy endings." He tried to get up, and swore creatively when a numb feeling of pins and needles brought him to his knees. A claw reached out and smashed the ground near them, and Katara found herself flying and smashing with incredible force into a tree. So much that bark rained down on her and shoved into her like daggers. She screamed, and she saw that Zuko had narrowly missed the claw with a bright red scratch on his side.

Zuko rolled to the side as the claw came down again. "What should we do? We don't have any strength whatsoever! How do we defeat this?"

"We don't have strength!" She realized, remembering the task name and repeating Zuko's word. "We need to use our minds and wits instead!"

"How do we take this down?" Zuko hissed, managing to stab the _oni_ again. "Watch out!" The club was thrown at Katara, which nearly smashed her foot but instead pinned her to the ground. The _oni _stalked slowly towards her, showing white fangs that glistened and were the size of inkbrushes. As he crawled to aid her, the _oni _threw out a foot and kicked him in the side. He felt and heard his ribs pop, and he almost gasped in agony as he was kicked many times before the _oni _abandoned him in favor of the injured and trapped woman.

"Tara!" He felt around and brushed against a vine. _A vine? In the forest? _

Zuko remembered overhearing Agni that the spirits would try to help them—the ones that approved of them returning, that is. What was the point of a vine? He couldn't throw it and choke the _oni _with it without standing. _Think. Someone gave me this for a reason. A hint..._

"Katara!" He yelled, tossing enough of the vine towards Katara. The end brushed her arm, and she looked at her, clutching her shining knife in her hand as the _oni _ was now advancing quickly, apparently wanting to finish the job quickly. "Yon Rha!"

She understood, rolled backward a reasonable distance, and tied the ends of the vine to two tree trunks, spread out separately. The _oni _ran at her, roaring in triumph—

And he tripped over the vine.

As he fell to the ground, Katara quickly jerked her knife forward into his chest before he fell, but did not pull back quickly enough. Her arm was trapped under the dead body of the heavy _oni_. She suspected her wrist was broken, feeling the slight crack and wave of pain as the deadweight corpse had fallen roughly to the ground.

The spell over their bodies broke, and Zuko ran over to help Katara, ignoring the persistent pain in his side. Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation similiar to Katara's healing, but the pain intensified as his ribs seemed to push themselves together. He noticed Katara was gasping in pain as the wood splinters were yanked out and her wounds disappeared quickly. The monster seemed to turn into wisps of smoke and floated away, the pressure on her wrist easing and healing quickly like a flash of a candle on the flesh: burning sharply for a second, then fading away gradually.

"Have we done it?" She whispered when it stopped. Zuko opened his mouth, but someone answered for him.

They looked up as Agni's voice rumbled, "You have passed the test."

**PREVIEW:**

_"You do not deserve to live!" The voices yelled, and Zuko felt intense pain, the horrible feeling of hopelessness. He felt he should drive Katara's dagger or his sword into his beating heart; his throat clenched at the memory of himself lying in bed after Ozai had scarred and banished him, wishing for nothing else but to kill himself and end his misery._

_He clutched his head, ignoring for once Katara's worried touch on his arms despite her own mental anguish, and felt as if he were going to faint. Zuko caught the shining light illuminating off of Katara's dagger and seized it, ripping himself from Katara's grasp and ignoring her cries of protest and surprise as he slashed the air in front of him and leapt thorough the portal._


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long wait! I am an idiot with writer's block. Luckily, you have a blessing in disguise. I had to type this with the HTML format because I'm typing with my hidden iPod. I am more grounded than Rapunzel in her tower, and I can't get my new chapters from my other stories. So, I guess you'll be getting more of this fanfic! This is not as good as I would have liked, but I really wanted to get this up fo you guys. Sorry for the wait!**

**CHAPTER FOUR: GUILT OF THE PAST**

"_Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike._" -J. K. Rowling

"Task Number Two: Digging up the Past." Agni declared. Zuko and Katara found themselves in a cave; Katara thought it was the Cave of Two Lovers at first, but there were no crystals on the walls glowing. It seemed to be an empty cave, but she heard an unnerving sound of soft clattering and clicking that made her neck and legs prickle with goosebumps. She was still in her white dress, which was fixed along with their wounds, and it fluttered in the wind that was causing the cave's mouth to seem as if it was moaning.

A grin hanging in the air made Katara shriek and Zuko jump, but it then formed into an owl-cat. "Frightened humans? Haha! I haven't seen humans in this cave for a long time...a very long time. I am very hungry now and long to eat you. Yes, no eating for years! But you two—" its yellow lamp-like eyes drank them in, Katara and Zuko's hands entwined. "Mm! A powerful Firebender and Waterbender! Can tide me over for a century or two!"

"You're not going to eat us." Katara replied, voice firm but eyes wandering as she tried to keep track of the moving owl-cat that fluttered and seemed to disappear to pop up behind them.

"We shall see!" The owl-cat proclaimed and transformed into a young man that had familiar eyes. But how could she know this person? He was Fire Nation!

Zuko seemed to realize and hissed, "I thought shapeshifting was Koh's specialty."

"He collects faces, my dear boy, just faces. I can read your memories, see your emotions..." the man licked his lips. "Recognize me? It'll spoil everything if you don't!"

"Stop." Zuko muttered, but the man began to talk in a voice that seemed as if it had laughed often. "Zuko, Zuko. I died in Ba Sing Se; you weren't there. You didn't attend my funeral!"

"Mom was—"

"Did you visit me in the Royal Family's tomb? No, you didn't! You wanted to the the perfect Crown Prince now that I was out of the way!"

Despite that Katara knew that Zuko knew that these were tricks and mockery, he seemed to have received a blow. Zuko closed his eyes. He didn't see Lu Ten's tomb or pray to the spirits privately for his cousin's spirit. He was so caught up in Ozai's expectations, now raised as high as the clouds for the Royal Heir, that he had forgotten his cousin. He didn't even talk about his death with Uncle!

Next the doppelgänger of Lu Ten had shifted into Hahn, and Katara flinched as the spirit flitted around her and poked her.

"Little Katara, do you hope that I died in the final battle? Do you know that you narrowly escaped me? If I find you, I shall claim you as mine!" The spirit hadn't said as much as when it taunted Zuko, but the memory, now tangible and sharp in her mind, sent her into fearful silence. She remembered her prayers that Hahn would be gone forever, but what if they came true? Was she a murderer? If not, he would find a way to bring her back. Katara shuddered. No.

The spirit flashed as it turned into many faces that Zuko knew, guilting, baiting, laughing, and smirking as Zuko held his head as he felt the dark surge over him again. The spirit began to speak in all the voices of Zuko's family, but it feasted on an image of Ursa.

"Zuko, dear boy, why didn't you try to seek me out when you were banished? Did you forget? I love you, Zuko, but you're the one who made me leave the palace! Do you know how much I gave up? All to focus my hopes on a pathetic dog like you!"

"You do not deserve to live!" The voices yelled, and Zuko felt intense pain, the horrible feeling of hopelessness. He felt he should drive Katara's dagger or his sword into his beating heart; his throat clenched at the memory of himself lying in bed after Ozai had scarred and banished him, wishing for nothing else but to kill himself and end his misery.

He clutched his head, ignoring for once Katara's worried touch on his arms despite her own mental anguish, and felt as if he were going to faint. Zuko caught the shining light illuminating off of Katara's dagger and seized it, ripping himself from Katara's grasp and ignoring her cries of protest and surprise as he slashed the air in front of him and leapt thorough the portal.

Zuko was gone, just like that. He promised not to leave her! He left her to face her demons alone. She didn't have many, fortunately, but when the spirit turned into Sokka, she gasped as he stated, "Dad loves me best, even if Mom loved you more. I always hated you. You were so perfect, and Mom and Dad always cooed and coddle you just because you could splash puddles around! They ignored me sometimes in favor of you! Why should I bother protecting you? You don't need me!"

Sokka wouldn't say that, she knew. Perhaps Sokka was jealous of her, and she remebered the fight they had when they were kids over her Waterbending. But he had felt bad afterwards and apologized—

"I am the odd man out. Everyone shines with their fancy bending, and you don't have time for me. Suki doesn't have bending, so she understands me than you know. You left me out when you were talking to Aang long ago about bending. You had fun without me. You got into trouble. I wouldn't have if I were there. But you were going to leave us because of him and your desire to become a master."

Katara breathed in and out. Yes, she was going to. But she chose her family and always will. She loved her brother, bending or not.

Sokka's image distorted as she began to break through the wall of false truths and exaggerations, and she eagerly seized upon happy and gentle moments with her brother. The illusion struggled with her, trying to turn into her father or mother, but she continued to remember the good memories. The memories where her heart burst with joy with being around her mommy, learning how to do something or showing her a Waterbending move. Or when she had helped her daddy with the ships and when he took the time to whittle a doll for her out of bone.

Her head began to pulse as the spirit screamed horrible things, but she knew her family and friends and Zuko loved her with all their hearts as she loved them, and eveything was thrown away like a heavy and dark cloak as Yue's voice, filled with relief, announced that she had passed.


End file.
